The present disclosure relates to an image forming apparatus that includes an aggregate printing function configured to print a plurality of pages of document data on a single sheet of recording medium.
Many image forming apparatuses such as copying machines or multifunctional peripherals include an aggregate printing function that is configured to print a plurality of pages of document data on a single sheet of recording medium. Such aggregate printing enables economizing the number of sheets of recording media. However when a number of pages to be printed on a single sheet of recording medium exhibits a poor balance with a number of pages of document data, an unnecessary blank page may result on a sheet of recording medium on which the final page of document data is printed. In this context, there is a technique of minimizing the formation of an unnecessary blank page by performing aggregate printing in which a plurality of selected document data is collected as a single group of continuous print data.
However, the conventional technique requires a user to select a plurality of document data to be collected as a single group of continuous print data. As a result, when printing a large amount of document data, a problem has arisen that since a user must determine whether to collect respective document data into a single group of continuous print data, it is necessary for the user to perform complicated operations.